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Jaspal Atwal charged with uttering threats

Atwal created controversy after an appearance at official dinner for PM in India

Jaspal Atwal, the central figure in the controversy that surrounded the prime minister's February trip to India, has been charged with uttering threats.

He was charged in British Columbia with one count of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm in an alleged incident that is said to have occurred on April 23, according to documents filed in a Surrey, B.C., court.

Court documents show bail was paid three days later, and Atwal is scheduled to appear in court on May 24.

Atwal, a Canadian of Indian descent, was previously convicted of attempted murder for trying to assassinate Indian cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu while he was visiting Vancouver Island in 1986.

During Justin Trudeau's visit to India, Atwal turned up at an official event and got an invitation to another at the Canadian High Commission in Delhi.

Photos of Atwal posing with a Liberal cabinet minister and Trudeau's wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, at an Indian film industry event in Mumbai were sent to media outlets, including the CBC, touching off a public relations firestorm for the Trudeau government that continued in the House of Commons for weeks.